Vol 6, No 4 (2010)
Review paper
Published online: 2010-12-16
Cardiovascular complications in breast cancer patients — diagnostic aspects
Onkol. Prak. Klin 2010;6(4):171-180.
Abstract
Recent progress in the modern oncology, with special regard to the early diagnosis and innovative, efficient
anti-cancer treatment, prolonged lives and increased the number of completely recovered breast cancer
patients. But yet, many of these treatments can cause cardiovascular injury such as cardiomyopathy,
heart failure, myocardial ischaemia, arterial hypertension or thromboembolic events. Early diagnosis and
the adequate reaction to such complications are a sine qua non conditions of successful treatment in
this group of patients. The initial and periodic cardiologic assessment including anamnesis, physical
examination and additional tests are indispensable elements of care of patients treated with potentially
cardiotoxic agents. Echocardiography, ECG and biochemical markers determination are a considerable
part of this diagnostic process. The essence of the appropriate care of breast cancer patients, especially
those with preexisting cardiovascular risk factors and those treated with cardiotoxic drugs, is a perfectly organized
cooperation between cardiologists and oncologists. In this article we review the current knowledge on chemotherapy-related cardiovascular injury, its incidence, plausible mechanisms and the diagnostic
techniques with special attention to biochemical markers and models of cardiooncology team-work.
Onkol. Prak. Klin. 2010; 6, 4: 171–180
Keywords: cardiotoxicitybiochemical markerscardiooncology
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